Astrophotographer Efrain Morales captured spectacular footage of China’s Tiangong space station as its silhouette buzzed Tycho Crater during a lunar transit on May 29, one night before May’s Blue Moon.
Morales recorded the outlines of Tiangong‘s vast solar panels and habitable modules using a 12-inch telescope and astronomy camera as it passed silently across the lunar surface in the skies above Puerto Rico at 11:33 p.m. EDT on May 29 (0333 GMT on May 30).
“It is a challenge in less then a second to capture this event,” Morales said in an email to Space.com. “Using a program the ISS Transit Finder helps in giving information to capture the space station. Adjusting the FOV and at times calculating last minute deviations in time and positions in which makes it more challenging.”
The orbital outpost appeared to dive directly toward Tycho Crater, whose 53-mile-wide (85 kilometer) impact site and bright ejecta dominate the southern region of the lunar disk on the nights surrounding the full moon phase.
The dark expanses of Mare Nubium (the Sea of Clouds) and Mare Nectaris (the Sea of Nectar) can also be seen scarring the lunar disk to the left and upper right of the footage, respectively, where ancient lava flows hardened to form basaltic plains billions of years ago.
What is the Tiangong space station?
The Tiangong space station, which translates to “Heavenly Palace” from Mandarin, is made up of the core module Tianhe and theMengtian and Wentian laboratory modules, which orbit Earth at an altitude ranging between 217 and 280 miles (340 to 450 km).
Tiangong is currently crewed by the three taikonauts of the Shenzhou 23 mission — commander Zhu Yangzhu, pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying — who launched to the orbital station atop a 203-ft (62 m) Long March 2F rocket on May 24.
Want to see the Tiangong space station for yourself? Then be sure to read our guide to tracking and photographing the orbital outpost, along with our roundups of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your night sky photography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
